Extended Warranty advice

Hi Everyone.
I am brand new here and this is my first post. I have never owned a Volvo before, but I hope to rectify that in the next couple days - finalizing a deal on 2000 C70 convertible. This car has 63000 kms (app 36000 miles). I have not seen it because it is at a dealer about 2000 miles away, but I have had a trusted friend to look at it for me and he assures me it is what the dealer says it is. It was garaged all the time and never winter driven. I have read almost evertything I can find on this model and there is certainly no indication that I should be nervous about potential problems so I am wondering if anyone wants to comment on whether an extended warranty purchase would be a good idea. This car will not be a daily driver and not likely driven at all in the winter so I won't be putting a lot of miles on it.

Any comments are appreciated.

[IC]

Hi and welcome to our forum. I had a Year's warranty on my car when I bought it and never used it in the first year, I re-newed it the second year and used it to replace a heater matrix (the irony is that the warranty cost the same as the matrix replacement). I would say that a warranty is well worth having as long as the air conditioning and turbo are covered - look at the warranty small print. In retrospect I would have bought an extended warranty as I have just had to renew the warranty every year. If something big does go wrong and you do have a decent warranty you will have peace of mind(I have no idea about Canadian warranties.)

When buying a second-hand Volvo bear in mind that a car with highish mileage that has sat on a motorway all its life could have an engine in better condition than a car with lower mileage that has been driven in stop start conditions in the city or that has been driven a lot of short distances as engines tend to wear out quicker because they do not get a chance to reach optimum temperature.

You are buying a summer car (I should imagine that the Canadian winters are quite severe!) so the chances are that the car has been garaged throughout the winter (I know that you have said that it has) - cars need to be stored properly if they are not driven! What type of C70 is it? - the C70T and C70T5 are a lot of fun, however I have been told that the soft tops are not as rigid as the standard coupes to drive! Good luck and let us know how you get on - by the way I would get some sort of professional check on a car if I was buying it.

[DieselDoNicely]

Is the dealer a registered Volvo dealer? If so you should be able to check all the service information, what service, what date, what mileage etc. If its not got a full Volvo dealer service history at this age, personally I wouldnt buy it, at 36K it wouldnt have cost much to maintain it at a Volvo dealer.

If its a genuine Volvo warranty its probably worth having, anyone else and its probably got all sorts of limits in the small print. I bought my 850 with a Volvo 5 year unlimited mileage warranty, that was good for everything except oils seals - and the car had to be serviced by Volvo.

You put much trust in your friend, if the car goes bang on the way home my guess is they wont be a friend for long.

DDN

Thanks for the comments Iain and DDN,

I think the nomenclature is a bit different here. this car has the High Pressure Turbo option. I am not looking for a sports car - we want to tour the Rocky Mountains in Western Canada with it. We have been doing these trips on a mortorcycle for years and it is time for a change.

Buying a pre-owned car is always a risk. The car is at a dealership in Oakville Ontario. I am told it is a single owner that it was serviced regularly. I am trying to arrange a conversation with the original owner and will certainly not buy it unless the service records are forthcoming. I will also be able to determine if it has ever been repaired due to a collision since there is a disclosure law in place and all this info is in a database. A dealer cannot sell a vehicle without making this available. There will be a Volvo certified multipoint mechanical check done at the dealer before the deal is made.

I don't mind paying for an extended warranty but it costs $1700.00 cdn (about $750 British Pounds) for 36000 miles over 3 years. I don't know if that is a reasonable deal or not. The problem is I anticipate only putting about half that many miles on in that period. As always, I will likely waffle back and forth and end up buying it anyways. I usually do in these situations.

BTW DDN, I just had my friend look at the car cosmetically and give me his impressions of the car, dealership, and salesman. If something goes bang, I will likely make him buy me a pint and we will have laugh over it.

Thanks for the advice

[sarge]

£750 for a three year warranty sounds okay to me - just make sure it covers all the key things. Even relatively minor component failures can be fairly costly to put right so it wouldn't necessarily take much to recoup your money, though you'd probably be pretty unlucky if you needed £750 worth of repairs on a car of the age/milage described, depending of course on how it's been treated in the past.

Sarge
'99 V70 AWD

[Simon Linton]

If you get this car an extended warranty is an excellent idea with the caveats in place others have mentioned.

Also check that your local garages will fix cars with your chosen company's warranty - I had problems with one garage flatly refusing to fix extended warranty vehicles because he didn't get paid promptly by the warranty company.

About the car - I would not get a convertible C70 due to the excessive flex in the car which will drive you bat**** after about 10 miles, especially on twisty mountain roads.

The coupe is a far better vehicle, cheaper, lighter and more rigid; the convertible is all about california freeway cruising at 20mph, checking out the talent.

C70s also have the same turning circle as the Queen Elizabeth which makes parking a very interesting and amusing procedure for third party observers and a nightmare for the driver.

However since you'll be driving it in Canada, I would imagine that car parks are designed for thyroidal SUVs so that will probably not be a problem.

[Simon J]

I'd have to disagree with Simon Linton's comments about the convertible! Yes, it does flex a little (OK, a lot!), but it is just sooooo....nice to drive with the hood/top down, and with the draught excluder in place (an essential item by the way, so if it doesn't have one, be sure to order one for it) you can cruise at 100 and barely ruffle a hair (if you have any!). And with the HPT engine you have all the power you need. And I'd agree with comments about making sure the warranty covers the air con. My previous V70 needed the evaporator replaced and the quote was GBP1300 or thereabouts. It was cheaper to trade it in for the C70 T5!

Thanks everyone for the help, but I took the plunge and bought the car without the warranty. As I learned more about the car, I feel I got a little lucky. In Canada, Volvo dealers sell newer used Volvos under a plan called CPO. If the car is less than 5 years old, it gets a 130 point inspection and all defiiciencies are corrected. It then can be sold as a Volvo certified car and will qualify for very low interest rates on a loan from Volvo. This was done on my car and it recieved brake rotors and pads front and rear, 4 new Yokohama tires, a new battery and general oil service. Then the dealer failed to sell it by Dec 31st and the car became unqualified for the CPO plan. As you can imagine, convertibles are slow sellers in Canada in the winter, and I feel I got a very competative price.

The car has the HPT and 3 CD stereo with 12 speakers. It also has the 17" wheels. It has just under 36,000 miles. I have not seen he car but a friend has and he descibed it as " like new" condition.

A nod to Simon Linton. Thanks for your good advice re: the warranty. I have been touring the Rocky Mountains on a motorcycle for decades. Cars are known as "cages" to bikers and you really have to experience a mountain road with no roof in order to understand the appeal. My wife and I are selling our Harley Davidson and replacing it with this car. You never hear a group of Harley riders sitiing around a keg of beer talking about thier ride's "sport bike" qualities. A non convertible just doesn't do it for me. I know about the differences in frame stability between the coupe and convertible but what I what I want is touring car that is comfortable. I am not concerned with speed or cornering (too much). As Chili Palmer (in the soon to be released Get Shorty sequel) says "If you are important, people will wait for you." I'm not important but a mountain drive is about the trip, not the destination.

You are are right about the "thyroidal SUVs" I live in Saskatchewan, which is a prairie province with an area literally 5 times that of England. We only have 1 million people in the whole province (Saskatoon is the largest city with 215,000 people). Turning radius is not a very big concern to me :) My other vehicle is 2004 Dodge 4 door 1/2 ton 4WD truck with Hemi Motor. Everything here is built on those kinds of dimensions.

Simon J - Thanks for the advice on the draft excluder - I will definately order one.

Sarge - Thanks for your advice on the warranty - based on the condition of the vehicle, the work that has already been done, and the fact I will only drive it on vacation and weekends for 6 months a year, I decided to throw caution to the wind and bought the car with no warranty. Living a bit dangerously in my old age.

Thanks everyone. I will report back when I recieve the car.

[Simon J]

Enjoy your new convertible! I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Rgds,
Simon J